Digging Up the Past
by They See Me Rollin' They Jelly
Summary: After eight year old Savannah Kinkirk discovers a skeleton in the back yard, a disturbing relevation surfaces.
1. Chapter 1

I came up with this yesterday while I was without power. Again, this is not something I'd write on my regular account, and the reason will become obvious.

* * *

Lucy Kinkirk was preparing the evening's dinner-cheesy beef quesadillas-when her three children came running down the stairs, arguing about God knows what it was today.

"Mom!" Savannah whined. Lucy looked at her eldest child with an eyebrow raised. "Tell them they have to play what _I_ want!"

"What is it you want to play, sweetie?"

"I want to play Cops and Robbers! They want to play Hide and Seek!"

"Savannah, you know how I feel about playing Cops and Robbers. You can play that with your friends, your brothers are too young for that game. Why don't you play Hide and Seek instead?"

"Mom!"

"Savannah, please do as I say. You're their big sister; it wouldn't hurt to do what they want once in a while."

Savannah glared at her younger siblings.

"Fine! Follow me." Savannah ordered, leaving the kitchen through the back door.

"Thanks, Mommy!" Lucy's middle child and oldest son, Denver, smiled cheerily. He and his younger brother, Trenton, ran outside after their sister.

"Ok, so I am going to hide first. You have to find me!" Savannah told her brothers in a bossy tone.

"Okay." Denver and Trenton said.

"All right, count to ten!"

"How do we do that?"

Savannah rolled her eyes.

"With your fingers, duh! Now, close your eyes and start counting."

Once Denver and Trenton had their eyes closed, Savannah ran for the bushes along the side of the house.

"One... Two..." Denver began counting with his fingers when he suddenly heard his sister scream.

The back door opened and Lucy appeared, looking frantic.

"Boys, where did Savannah go?" She asked her sons.

"We dunno. Is she ok?"

"Go inside and into my office. Stay there until I come back." Lucy told them firmly. The boys nodded and went back inside.

"Savannah, sweetie?"

"In the bushes, Mommy!" Savannah's voice came from the side of the house. Lucy peeked over the corner to see Savannah backed up in a corner, hand over her mouth.

Lucy sighed and shook her head.

"Is it a dead animal, honey?" Lucy knew Savannah could get a bit ovcerdramatic at times. After all, Savannah was _her_ daughter. Like mother like daughter, they say.

"I think it's a dead person, mommy!"

Lucy's eyes widened and she took a peek in the bushes. Laying there was a skeleton partially buried. She beckoned for Savannah to come to her.

"Who is it?"

"I- I don't know. I intend to find out."

"Is it gonna be like CSI?" She asked.

"CSI? Savannah, you are _too_ young to be watching CSI!" Lucy scolded her daughter.

Savannah shrugged.

"I see Daddy watching it sometimes."

"Well, I'm going to have a talk with him about that. But first, you're going to get your brothers upstairs."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to call 911."

"Do I really have to go upstairs with them?"

"Yes, now go!" They were inside at this point and Lucy had the phone in her hand. Savannah left the room to get her brothers.

"911, what's your emergency?" An operator spoke through the line.

"Hello, this is Lucy Kinkirk. My daughter just discovered a dead body in our back yard. We're at 527 Alda Road."

"We'll have someone there quickly. Please do not touch the area surrounding the body."

"Thanks, thanks so much!" Lucy hung up the phone and dialed her husband's work number.

"Kevin Kinkirk here."

"Kevin, it's me! Savannah just discovered a skeleton in our back yard. I need you to come home, I can't deal with this myself."

There was no response on the line and Lucy looked at the phone, wondering if they'd gotten disconnected.

"Kevin?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Um... I really can't come home right now. I'm in the middle of doing some paperwork. How about calling Sandy and asking her to come over."

"_Fine!_" Lucy snapped and hung up the phone. She then proceeded to call her good friend, Sandy Jamison.

"Sandy here." The peppy voice of her best friend answered.

"Hey, it's me! Look, something happened and I really need you to come over."

"What happened? It's not Kevin or the kids, is it?"

"No, they're perfectly fine. Savannah was playing Hide and Seek in the back yard and discovered a skeleton."

"A skeleton, like a human skeleton?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be right over." Sandy hung up the phone without saying goodbye. Lucy did the same and let out a sigh.

_How could there be a skeleton in her back yard and she didn't know anything about it? How long has it been there? Was it there from the previous owners? But surely, her siblings and her would've discovered it over the many years since her father moved into this house over thirty years earlier._


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy had just got done checking on her children, who were in her old room playing quietly, when the doorbell rang.

"Is that the CSI people, Mommy?" Savannah asked, looking up from her coloring book.

"No, it's Sandy."

"Ooooh, Aaron!" Savannah squealed, clapping her hands.

"I'll have him come right up. You three stay here."

Savannah sat back down, pouting. Lucy laughed quietly, shutting the door behind her. The doorbell rang again as she rushed down the stairs. She hurriedly opened it and saw Sandy and Aaron standing before her.

"Hey, thanks so much for coming over! Aaron, Savannah's waiting for you upstairs."

"Thanks, Lucy!" Aaron said and ran up the stairs. Sandy shut the door behind her.

"I came over as quickly as possible. Where is this body, if you don't mind me asking."

"It's out back, in the bushes."

"Huh, and you never knew it was there?"

Lucy shook her head.

"Nobody goes that way. And..." Lucy began, but stopped.

"And what?"

"Well, I called Kevin at work and told him about it. He sounded very weird."

"He's probably just freaked out that the kids saw it. Don't worry about it."

The doorbell rang once again and Lucy answered it.

"Lucy Kinkirk?"

"That's me."

"Detective Watts. You called about a body found in your yard?"

"Yes, follow me, right this way." Lucy led Detective Watts, a woman who was carrying what looked like a kit, and another woman who was dressed in an official uniform, through the kitchen and out the back door.

The woman in the official uniform laid down a stretcher with a plastic cover.

"Has anyone disturbed the scene?" Detective Watts asked when they'd gotten to the bushes.

"Only my daughter when she was playing Hide and Seek with her brothers, Detective."

"All right. Officer Rodriguez and the medical examiner will move the body for further investigation. While they do, I'd like to talk to you, Mrs. Kinkirk."

"O- Okay." Lucy nodded, leading Detective Watts back into the house. The Detective pulled out a notepad and pen from his shirt pocket.

"All right, now this is a crime scene, you do realize that, right?"

"Yes, I do. We won't have to leave, will we?"

"No, you won't. The ME and Officer Rodriguez should be out of here within the hour. I have several questions to ask you. Your daughter was the one who discovered the body?"

"Yes, she was."

"Could I ask her some questions?"

Lucy laughed shortly and shook her head.

"Look, Detective, Savannah's only eight. I can tell you want happened to the best of my knowledge. Please, I don't want to upset her. I hope you understand."

"I understand."

"Savannah and her brothers were playing Hide and Seek. Savannah hid first, in the bushes. She must have crawled in there and found the skeleton. Then she screamed and jumped right out. I hardly saw any disturbance when I took a look in there."

Detective Watts scribbled this information down on his notepad.

"How long have you lived here?"

"Practically all my life. This house belongs to the church. My parents moved here right after my brother, Matt, was born and lived here until just two years ago. My dad was a minister and so am I. The church gave me and my husband this house when my parents moved away. I honestly had no idea there was a body buried in my back yard. I mean, you'd think my siblings or I would've discovered it when we were kids. The five of us loved going on adventures when we were little. I don't see how we missed it." Lucy rambled on as Detective Watts took notes.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kinkirk."

The back door opened and Officer Rodriguez and the medical examiner walked in.

"Mrs. Kinkirk." Officer Rodriguez said.

"Yes?"

"Upon our preliminary examination, we've come to several conclusions. The victim was Caucasian, male, in his early twenties and about five-eleven. We're guessing his hair was brown."

Lucy pondered on this for a few minutes, trying to run through all the people she knew that fit that description.

"Do you know how long he's been there?"

"Based on the amount of decay, I'd say eight to twelve years. We can get a more determined time of death at the lab."

Lucy shook her head.

"I can think of a few people. Most of them I've seen in the past eight years. Except one person."

"Who's that?" Detective Watts asked.

"Robbie Palmer. He lived with us for a couple years and one day, he suddenly disappeared..." Lucy trailed off, looking off into space.

"Mrs. Kinkirk?"

"What'd you say his cause of death was?"

"I'm afraid we can't reveal that. Thank you for your time." Detective Watts stood and went back out to the yard with the officer and ME. A couple minutes later, he returned with the other two carrying the bag-covered stretcher behind them.

"You'll call me if you find anything out, right?" Lucy asked.

"This case is confidential, I'm afraid. But if we feel you could be of any help, we won't hesitate to call."

"Thanks. Here, let me show you out."

Lucy rushed to the foyer and held the door open. Once they were gone, Lucy turned to Sandy, who'd remained quiet all that time.

"I think- No, I can't say it. He wouldn't do that, would he?" Lucy asked Sandy.


End file.
